Don’t be a slave to your debt
OPINION: Clicking through some news of late, I have noted the odd headline referring to credit card debt.
A debt mediation scheme to help farmers in financial distress deal with their lenders starts today.
The Farm Debt Mediation Scheme will require creditors to offer mediation to farmers who default on payments before they take any enforcement action, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor.
“Total farm debt in NZ is $62.8 billion – up 270% on 20 years ago. Farmers are especially vulnerable to business down-turns as a result of conditions that are often outside their control, like weather, market price volatility and diseases like Mycoplasma bovis and Covid-19,’’ says O’Connor.
“Farmers who operate a family business often don’t have the resources to negotiate their own protections when dealing with lenders. That’s where this scheme fits in – it supports the mental, emotional and financial wellbeing of farmers and farming families who find themselves in financial trouble.
“The scheme is about early intervention – where either the farmer or the bank have an ability to go and seek mediation, which is a far better option than forced foreclosure,” says O’Connor.
Two Approved Mediation Organisations, The Arbitrators and Mediators Institute of New Zealand (AMINZ) and Resolution Institute (RI) have been appointed to deliver the scheme.
Farmers wishing to access the scheme should visit the MPI website.
Alliance has announced a series of capital raise roadshow event, starting on 29 September in Tuatapere, Southland.
State farmer Pāmu (Landcorp) has announced a new equity partnership in an effort to support pathways to farm ownership for livestock farm operators.
Following a recent overweight incursion that saw a Mid-Canterbury contractor cop a $12,150 fine, the rural contracting industry is calling time on what they consider to be outdated and unworkable regulations regarding weight and dimensions that they say are impeding their businesses.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says his officials plan to meet their US counterparts every month from now on to better understand how the 15% tariff issue there will play out, and try and get some certainty there for our exporters about the future.
Brett Wotton, an Eastern Bay of Plenty kiwifruit grower and harvest contractor, has won the 2025 Kiwifruit Innovation Award for his work to support lifting fruit quality across the industry.